Come Hell or High Water
by Beautiful-Bird-Avenger99
Summary: "Look at me, hey, c'mon." she cupped Albert's wet cheek in her hand. "I promise you that we'll see him again, and he'll be alive and kicking, aye? Joey's too stubborn to give up. Even if you go to war too, I'm sure you'll see him at some point, and you'll come home riding him. We'll be fine, we'll be together again, huh? We'll see him again, come hell or high water." Albie/OC.


**Hey Guys! Birdy here with a new story that i will try my darndest to actually post more then three chapters. Whoops. Anywho, hope you guys enjoy reading! There will be slight trigger warnings in future chapters, but one for this chapter is mentions/jokes of pedophilia, so please feel free to skip past that part. **

**~Birdy**

_"She's in a long black coat tonight, waiting for me in the downpour outside, singing 'baby come home tonight,' in a melody of tears, while the rain keeps time."_

_-Fall Out Boy, "Jetpack Blues"_

It was a grey, stormy, generally disgusting day outside at Downton, the bad mood of the weather

infecting the staff and family, resulting in short tempers and harsh words flying. The four sisters, while they generally got along, Edith and Mary were at each other's throats nearly every five minutes, making snide snappish comments that made one of them(Edith) leave the room in tears, and the two youngest, Sybil and Violet, while normally thick as thieves, couldn't bear to look at another. Which made for a very distressing day. Violet spent her time locked up in her room, reading her books until she finished all of her reading. With a sigh, she launched herself off her bed, peaking out her door to make sure none of her family members were around to pester her. She tip toed out into the hallway as quietly as she could, taking great care not to step on the creaky stair halfway down.

"We can't keep continuing like this, Robert. We'll have to tell the girls sometime." Oh no. Violet held in a sigh as she heard her parents in the large library, where, of course, all her favorite books were stashed. She would have to make do with Edith's romance novels in the small sitting room. Violet started to creep away from the door, but heard her father's voice through the open door.

"I know, but how do you tell your daughters that your estate has almost run out of money? No, I cannot tell them now. We must wait until I discuss it with Matthew tonight at dinner." She heard Cora sigh.

"If only Mary would just admit that she loves Matthew. That would simplify SO many of our problems. And how I wish Edith would stop being stubborn and just get over Sir Anthony, it was almost a year ago!" Violet rolled her eyes. Of course her mother thought it was that easy to get over being left at the altar. She could almost see her fathers agreement, despite being around the corner.

"They leave me no choice, if they refuse to marry within the next two years, I must marry off Sybil and Violet. I already have a suitor asking about Violet, I told him I'd consider it after her presentation to court next season." She felt the blood drain out of her face, and a feeling as heavy as a stone dropped in her stomach.

"Who was it?" Violet leaned as far as she dared towards the doorway.

"Sir Peter Valkhear, he was at mama's eighty-second birthday, I believe you met him. He offered a hefty sum for permission to court her." Violet closed her eyes and did all she could not to fall to the floor. Sir Peter was _at least _seventy years old! She felt nauseous. Was the room really spinning, or was that just her? She had to go, or risk being discovered by her parents. She screwed up her face and pushed herself off the wall. Violet quickly tip toed back to her room, pausing every now and again to lean on a wall or table and try not to throw up. She was sweating by the time she got back to her room.

As soon as Violet closed and locked her door, she booked it to the bathroom, not even pulling her long black hair back as she dry heaved over the toilet. She wasn't even sure if that was the toilet she was leaning over. Violet was in shock, how could her father agree to such a thing? Tears clouded her vision, and her sobs bubbled up in her throat. No, she couldn't cry, she'd be proving Mary right. She always said that she cried too much. She had to take action. Swallowing hard, she wiped her eyes and cleaned up her face, taking a shaky breath as she leaned on the sink in front of the mirror. Her blue eyes, brightened by the red from crying, looked almost violently blue. It unsettled her, and she looked away quickly. Violet made her way to her room, where she grabbed her simplest dress and braided her hair back and plopped a hat on her head. She grabbed a pen, and warred with herself on wether or not to write a note. If she did, they could possibly track her down. If she didn't though, her mother would be so distressed... Violet bit her lip, thinking of her sweet, if not sometimes air headed mother, and how she would feel if her last girl left without a note. Against her better judgement, she wrote a letter to her mother and sisters. She looked around her room one last time before she grabbed her diary and copy of_ Black Beauty_, worn from the years. She took a breath and closed the door, and made her decent to the servant's quarters. There was one person she wanted to say goodbye to in person.

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"Miss Violet! What are you doing down here so early?" Violet smiled at Mrs Hughes.

"Oh I just needed to ask something of Thomas, it's kind of personal. May I steal him for a moment? It shouldn't take too long, I promise you'll have him back before the dinner gong rings." Hughes looked hesitant.

"I-I suppose that should be alright. Please don't take him up for too long." Violet gave her a sweet smile of thanks. Thomas walked over to the sitting room, but Violet grabbed his arm.

"No, I need to speak with you outside." He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but went anyways.

It was drizzling when they stepped outside, the sun having gone behind the clouds once again.

"I'm leaving." Her breath came out in a puff of moisture. Thomas started, looking at her in surprise. He sighed and pulled out a cigarette.

"I should've known you were gonna make a break for it. Guess I was just hoping it'd be later rather then sooner." He exhaled smoke, then looked at Violet. "Are you sure you know what you're doin?" Thomas said, tone surprisingly soft.

"No. But I can't sit around here and wait for something to come up. I already found out that papa was going to practically sell me to Sir Peter."

"That old perv that tried to cop a feel of you at the Dowager's birthday last year?"

"Yeah, him. I didn't even have breasts then, so I hope he's not expecting me to look like a child." She said, giving him a wicked smile as he chocked on his smoke.

"Are you insinuating that the Earl of Weatherby gets a stiffy for children?" He coughed.

"I'm not insinuating anything Mr Barrow, you're the one who said it." Violet laughed. Thomas chuckled, before dropping his smile.

"See, this is what I'll miss when you leave." He pointed at her with his cigarette. "This little banter, brother-sister thing we've got goin on." Violet's shoulders fell.

"I know. I just- I just _couldn't _stay and be thrown away like some used toy, you know?" Violet jumped as Thomas suddenly wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll miss you treating me like an actual person, not a disease." He pulled back, and leaned to look her in the eye. "You better take care of yourself, you gotta promise me that you'll be careful, because I don't know if I could live with myself if anything happened to you."

"Stop it, you're going to make me cry again!" Violet protested, wiping her eyes for the second time that day.

"I mean it, you've been the only thing that makes working here worth it. Promise me you'll write once you find a place to settle?" Violet shook her head.

"I'll try, but I can't give away where I am, you've got to make sure that nobody finds my letters and discovers where I am, okay?" She stuck out her pinkie finger. "Promise?" Thomas gave a small, genuine smile before linking his much larger finger with her's.

"You should get back inside before Carson gets suspicious. I'll write when I can." She hugged him tightly again, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Please take care of yourself, you're a person, not a disease." Thomas made a noise somewhere between a sob and a cough.

"G'bye Lettie. Be careful."

Thomas stood there long after Violet had walked off into the darkening night before he went inside.

"And just where have you been?"

"I was just taking a smoke before dinner, is that illegal now?" Mrs Patmore harrumphed before blustering off. Thomas walked a few feet before he was stopped by Mrs Hughes.

"Good, you're back. Mr Carson was just looking for you. Where is Lady Violet?" Thomas inhaled and started to walk towards Carson's office.

"She fancied a walk before dinner, don't worry, she said she'd be back before anyone upstairs noticed she was gone." He supposed he would have to get used to life without her here now.

How boring.

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It was pouring rain, and Violet's black wool coat was becoming incredibly waterlogged, which was fantastic for her, as it weighed an extra ten pounds. She had been walking for hours, only stopping for a meal at some pub in Westfarthing, before continuing on her way. That was about three hours ago, it was eleven o clock at night now, and she was desperate for a place to stay. The wind was becoming so heavy she could hardly move against it, and was that a wall she felt? Violet couldn't see a single thing. The icy rain still pelted her, and it was as if God himself was punishing her for leaving. She felt her footing fumble, and she slipped in the thick mud, sending her rolling down a hill before she crashed into a stone wall. Violet tried to get up, but accidentally put her hand on her long hair, which had come undone from it's braid. She cried out, jerking her head up, holding her hand to the aching strands. Her face was pelted with rain, coming down harder than ever.

Violet let out a mangled mix of a groan and a sob. What had she been thinking, leaving her nice, _warm_ home? She remembered her father's words, the way he spoke of giving her up to Sir Peter. Adrenaline filled her veins, forcing her to get up and try to continue walking. She pushed off the ground, the mud squelching underneath her, stealing one of her gloves. She didn't need it. She couldn't feel her fingers anyways. She had stopped shaking hours ago. Violet shivered as the wind tore through her coat again. If she could only get moving again, she would remain some semblance of warmth. But she was just so _tired_, and her feet felt so heavy. Her eyes started to slip shut until a gust of wind blew in her face, waking her up. She couldn't fall asleep, not under any circumstances. If she fell asleep, she knew she would be frozen within the hour. Violet felt her way along the stone wall she had been leaning on, carefully placing one leg over the wall, then the other. She wondered if this was someone's field she was trespassing on. She slowly made her way up the hill, slipping on occasion, doing quite well until another gust of wind tried to push her over, making her stumble and slip. Losing her balance, Violet tripped over something and landed hard, smashing her head on a small rock. Her vision went blurry for a moment, before going completely black, and she knew no more.

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ayy chapter one down. I promise we'll have Albie and everyone in the next chapter, pinkie swear! If you would be as so kind as to leave a review, that would make my day! Sorry if some parts seem a little repetitive, this is one of my first tries experimenting with third person instead of first :( but thanks for reading!


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